Cannes Lions 2026 Announced Liesl Lategan As The Cohort For See It Be It

April 14, 2026

Cannes Lions has announced Liesl Lategan as the cohort for the 2026 See It Be It (SIBI) talent programme. Designed to accelerate the careers of women and non-binary talent, the 2026 cohort selected for this unique learning and development programme includes 20 creatives from 15 global markets. Lategan, executive producer of Spitfire Films, is South Africa’s representative.

Taking place at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, between 22 and 26 June 2026, the programme includes mentorship opportunities and private masterclasses with industry leaders, as well as backstage access and sessions tailored to each participant’s career goals.

As the gateway to the world’s most prestigious celebration of creative excellence, the Cannes Lions Festival sits at the heart of the See It Be It initiative. So too, Ster-Kinekor, the exclusive Cannes Lions Festival Representative for South Africa, is committed to the nurturing of creativity across all brand communication platforms.

‘Ster-Kinekor has always been passionate about storytelling, creativity and the power of ideas to move audiences. We are very excited that Liesl Lategan has been selected as part of the 2026 See It Be It cohort, and we are sure she will share her learnings and experiences from the programme far and wide across the industry on her return from Cannes,’ said Lynne Wylie, chief marketing officer of Ster-Kinekor Theatres.

Lategan said that being chosen as the representative from South Africa for the SIBI Cohort of 2026 is a huge honour. ‘Creativity and being creative are completely natural for me. They are the fabric of my life and my purpose, which is inextricably linked to my business and its people. I look forward to learning at Cannes and becoming a better leader to continue growing Spitfire as a business that embodies transformation, purpose and passion in all that we do,’ she said.

The See It Be It programme is a cornerstone initiative at Cannes Lions, embodying an unwavering commitment to elevating underrepresented talent in the creative industry. This year, the programme welcomes a dynamic cohort representing a broad range of creative disciplines and global markets. Their unique perspectives and experiences will enrich the SIBI community, a network dedicated to fostering career development and paving the way forward for women and non-binary talent in the industry.

Since its inception in 2014, more than 150 women and non-binary talent from 44 markets have participated in the programme that is designed to combat the gender imbalance of creative directors in the industry. See It Be It is open to all women and non-binary people.
At Cannes this year, the cohort will be supported by Alumni Tutors Leena Gupta, Creative & Founding Member, Talented Agency, India, and Natasha Lashly, Founder & ECD, Piña Colada, Venezuela.

The 2026 Cohort Comprises:

– Aidovhioghie Anani | Deputy Creative Director, X3M Ideas, Nigeria

– Alba Abelló Balmes | Senior Creative, Twitch, UK

– Beatriz Fiori | Senior Copywriter, GUT São Paulo, Brazil

– Dana Buckhorn | Creative Director, Copywriter, Mischief @ No Fixed Address, USA

– Eugene Park | Creative Excellence Lead, CJ Cheiljedang, South Korea

– Farah El Beaini | Group Account Director, Burson, Lebanon / UAE

– Haylie Craig | Global Associate Creative Director, LEGO Group, Denmark (they/them)

– Hilary Ngan Kee | Head of Strategy, Motion Sickness, Aotearoa New Zealand

– Holly Attrill | Senior Creative, Wieden+Kennedy London, UK

– Kristen Gaerlan | Creative Director, Weber Shandwick, USA

– Liesl Lategan – Kyriakou | Founder/Executive Producer, Spitfire Films, South Africa

– Liyana Hidhir | Copywriter, Independent, Singapore

– Micaelle Lages | Creative Director & Co-Founder, thecode, Brazil

– Natalie Narh | Co-Founder & CEO, NewComma, Ghana

– Padcha Tanviruch | Independent Creative Director, Thailand

– Priscila Ramos de Sousa | Associate Creative Director, Area 23, USA

– Shreya Arora | Creative Strategy, Ultrahuman, India

– Shyaire Ganglani | Associate Creative Director (Copywriter), Leo Australia, Australia

– Svetlana Ćopić | Founder & Creative Director, No Agency, Serbia

-Valentina Bezzolo Briceño | Senior Creative Copywriter, DDB Chile, Chile

CANNES YOUNG LIONS
cannesyounglionssouthafrica.co.za

2025 Trends Report Presented By Effie South Africa And Ipsos

Meggan McCarthy, Modern Marketing

April 14, 2026

The third 2025 Trends Report was presented on a webinar held on 24 March, by Effie South Africa, in partnership with Ipsos, offering a focused view of what the 2025 winning cases reveal about driving marketing effectiveness in South Africa. The report explores how the country’s most effective work made deliberate choices about what it needed to achieve, how strategy showed up across channels, and how creative execution converted attention into action.

The report reinforces the outcomes identified in Effie South Africa and Ipsos’ previous reports, strengthening an evidence base that has become increasingly consistent across winning work. Effectiveness is rarely accidental. The most successful cases begin with clarity of intent (the job to be done), then orchestrate channel roles and investment with purpose, and rely on creative execution to earn attention, lift awareness and improve recall, and drive behaviour.

‘This is the third Effie South Africa Ipsos Trends Report, and it continues to sharpen what effectiveness looks like in our market,’ said Gillian Rightford, ACA Executive Director for Effie South Africa. ‘The lesson from the 2025’s entries is simple but powerful. Winning brands don’t try to do everything. They are clear about the job to be done. They sequence growth. They orchestrate channels with intent, not noise. And they make creativity carry the commercial load, using humour, emotion, distinctive ideas and clear calls to action to turn attention into action.’

That discipline comes through clearly in the 2025 Grand Effie winner, TBWA\Hunt Lascaris and City Lodge Hotel Group’s ‘Save Our Stay (SOS)’, where humour and a distinctive creative platform helped the campaign break category conventions, achieve rapid attention and translate intent into tangible action. Across the winning cases, the report highlights how humour and storytelling accelerate cut-through, while distinctive ideas and design choices help brands stand apart in saturated environments, improving recall and strengthening brand identity over time.

‘Winning strategies utilise humour and storytelling to cut through the clutter, reinforcing brand identity and inciting behavioural changes,’ said Quantin Montello, Service Line Manager, Creative Excellence at Ipsos. ‘In today’s saturated environment, reaching your audience at the right moment with precise messaging proves paramount. The 2025 winners show how strong orchestration and clear creative choices turn attention into measurable outcomes.’

The 2025 Effie South Africa Ipsos Trends Report is available to download, alongside the webinar recording presented on 24 March. Download the report or watch the webinar on Effie South Africa’s YouTube page here.

EFFIE SOUTH AFRICA
https://effie.org/partners/south-africa/

The 14th Annual WesBank New Generation Awards Announces Early-Bird Entries

Meggan McCarthy, Modern Marketing

April 14, 2026

The 14th Annual WesBank New Generation Awards Announces Early-Bird Entries

The WesBank New Generation Social & Digital Media Awards, South Africa’s premier independent and performance-based digital accolades, have become the definitive benchmark for digital excellence in the South African corporate and agency sectors.

The WesBank New Generation Social & Digital Media Awards is proud to announce the opening of early-bird entries for its landmark 14th edition. Teams can secure their participation at preferred rates from 10-30 April 2026, before standard entry fees take effect.

Over the past 13 years, the awards have processed more than 6,000 entries across 60 Industry-Specific Categories and bestowed more than 1,700 accolades, celebrating the pioneers who move the needle in social-first marketing, digital media, AI, creativity, integrated marketing, and online technology. Modern Marketing is a proud media partner of the awards.

Stephen Paxton, Founder of the Awards, commented, ‘A New Gen Award is more than an accolade, it is a validation of excellence in an era of rapid digital shift. It represents the moment where raw data meets creative brilliance, and where the industry’s most impactful strategies are officially codified into legacy.’

Early-Bird Entry Information

Agencies and corporates are encouraged to take advantage of the early-bird entry phase to secure their participation at a preferred rate. This is the opportunity for innovators to showcase their creativity, technical prowess, and strategic ROI on the national stage.

For the entry guide, category descriptions, and entry fees, please visit here.

Why Enter New Gen? The Benchmark for 2026 Marketing Excellence:

1. Validate Your Strategic Architecture

In an era of AI-driven systems and shifting algorithms, winning a New Gen Award proves that your strategy isn’t just ‘functional’, it’s architectural. It validates that your brand successfully fused human creativity with technical mastery to drive measurable results.

2. Elevate Your Market Authority

A New Gen accolade is more than a trophy; it is a commercial asset. Previous winners have seen a direct increase in agency demand and a total recalibration of how their platforms are viewed by stakeholders and competitors alike.

3. Attract and Retain Elite Talent

The ‘New Gen’ brand is synonymous with innovation. Winning gives your team the earned confidence that their work delivers ‘real Impact’, not just engagement. It positions your organization as the premier destination for the industry’s top creative and technical minds.

4. Benchmark Against the Best

Join a 14-year legacy of excellence. With a judging panel of industry giants and a history of celebrating over 1700 accolades among top innovators, entering allows you to measure your work against the highest standards of the South African digital landscape, from across the corporate and agency sectors.

‘The New Gen Awards have been a catalyst for our strategic evolution. Beyond validation, they have given our team data-backed confidence that our work drives measurable impact, not just engagement. This elevated market positioning has directly accelerated agency demand, elevating how our platform is viewed in the market, and solidified the high-value partnerships that fuel our growth,’ said Kyle Oosthuizen, CEO at Blue Robot Group.

About the Awards

The 2026 Awards Gala marks a bold new era for the New Gen legacy. We have refined every detail to create a sleeker, sharper, and more impactful ceremony that honours the pace of the digital world. New Gen is shedding the traditional to embrace the dynamic, with a minimalist, industrial setting, creating a stage dedicated to the work and the people behind it. Mark your calendars for September 23rd, the night Johannesburg witnesses the pinnacle of South African digital achievement.

Sustained Excellence: WesBank Returns as Platinum Sponsor

Building on a successful partnership, the awards are proud to welcome back WesBank as the Platinum Headline Naming Sponsor for the second consecutive year. The awards will continue to be branded as The WesBank New Generation Awards through May 2027, reinforcing a shared commitment to honoring the architects of South Africa’s digital future.

Media & Sponsorship Inquiries: Stephen Paxton, Awards Founder, email: stephen@newgenawards.co.za

WESBANK NEW GENERATION
https://www.newgenawards.co.za/

South African Brands Need To Embrace The Always-On Mindset

Modern Marketing

April 9, 2026

Martin Slabbert, Alkemi Collective

According to Martin Slabbert, Head of Newsroom, Alkemi Collective, if your brand’s communication strategy still relies on a single, massive launch event every quarter, you are essentially telling your audience, and the media, that your business is only worth talking about four times a year. That simply does not cut it anymore.

The reality is that audiences are always on, and therefore, your brand must be always-on. The solution is not just more content, it is adopting a strategic mindset borrowed directly from the media world: the Continuous Newsroom.

For years, brands planned their communications like a military operation: The Big Campaign.

We would gather all the budget, all the resources, and all the creative energy for a single, powerful push. The result was often spectacular, generating a flurry of media coverage and social buzz.

But what happens on day 46, after the budget runs out and the agency moves onto the next client? Nothing. Silence.

This boom-and-bust cycle creates a feast-or-famine relationship with the media and, more crucially, with your customers. The moment you go silent, you lose the opportunity to participate in the real-time conversations shaping your industry.

In South Africa, where media houses are under immense pressure and journalists are juggling multiple beats, they don’t have the luxury of waiting six months for your next big product announcement. They are looking for credible, timely, and relevant commentary right now. They need an expert who can react to the Budget Speech, comment on the latest interest rate hike, or weigh in on the national debate around AI ethics.

If you are not positioned as that expert in the moment, someone else will be.

The Newsroom approach fundamentally changes the structure of a brand’s communications. It moves the focus away from the product launch and towards the continuous narrative. Instead of a marketing department that builds campaigns, you create an agile, dedicated team (internal or external) whose job is to operate like a media house.

What Does This Mean In Practice?

Reactive and proactive story mining: A Continuous Newsroom is constantly scanning the external environment, economic trends, political developments, and social media chatter, to find opportunities for the brand to legitimately contribute. Think of a local South African bank. Instead of waiting for their next home loan campaign, a newsroom would immediately analyse the impact of a surprise SARB rate announcement and issue a commentary piece within hours, positioning the bank’s economist as the go-to expert.

Repurposing and ripping: In the old world, a campaign generated a press release and maybe a few social posts. In the newsroom model, one core idea is ripped into multiple formats. A five-minute CEO video on a new sustainability initiative becomes a LinkedIn article by the Head of Logistics, a series of TikTok clips showing behind-the-scenes staff interviews, and a detailed infographic for trade publications. Multichoice or Woolworths are good examples of brands that do this well, continually feeding their owned media channels with fresh, relevant lifestyle and business content that goes far beyond simply selling a product.

Your greatest assets are the knowledgeable people within your organisation. A newsroom identifies your key experts and technical geniuses, and trains them to be the consistent voice of the brand. This provides the media with fresh, authentic sources, rather than the same old corporate statement.

The Nando’s Effect

The most powerful South African illustration of an always-on strategy is arguably Nando’s. They are the masters of the real-time, continuous conversation. While their advertising campaigns are memorable, their true power lies in their agility.

When a political controversy erupts, or a major social event dominates the public sphere, Nando’s is often the first brand to respond with witty, culturally relevant commentary that lands perfectly with the audience. They do this because they operate with a Newsroom mentality, a team poised to seize the moment, not wait for a quarterly creative briefing. This isn’t just advertising; it’s public relations at the speed of news, embedding the brand directly into the national dialogue.

Transitioning to a Continuous Newsroom is not a cost. It is an investment in relevance and resilience. It ensures your brand is not just present when you want it to be but expected to be present when the customer or the news environment demands it.

For South African brands looking to thrive in our dynamic and demanding market, the choice is clear: stop relying on the occasional big bang. Embrace the Continuous Newsroom. Adopt the always-on mindset. It is the only way to ensure your story is not just told, but becomes an integral, trusted part of the daily conversation.

ALKEMI COLLECTIVE
https://alkemi.global

A South African Idea Sees Heineken Launch ‘Bar De Change’

Charnia

April 9, 2026

A South African Idea Sees Heineken Launch ‘Bar De Change’ — Heineken® launches ‘Bar De Change’ a Bureau de Change – but for beers

A Heineken® beer abroad can cost up to three times more than it does at home for South Africans which affects how much we can socialise when travelling abroad. When every round requires a quick mental conversion, the moment starts to feel a little less free. So, Heineken® decided to remove the maths. Introducing ‘Bar De Change’ – a Bureau de Change, but for beers.

At OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, Heineken® installed a one-of-a-kind exchange counter where travellers could purchase Heineken® beers at South African prices before they departed. Instead of exchanging currency, travellers received digital vouchers which were redeemable at participating Heineken® partner bars across Europe.

The result? At selected partner bars across Europe, a Heineken® could cost the same as it does back home. One beer there = one beer here, making it easier for South Africans to keep socialising and sharing moments wherever their travels take them.

‘South Africans understand better than most how exchange rates can shape everyday experiences abroad,’ said Alex Drake, Heineken® Brand Director South Africa. ‘As the world’s most international brewer, Heineken exists to bring people together across borders. With Bar De Change, we wanted to remove the friction of currency conversions so travellers can focus on what really matters, sharing social moments wherever they are.’

To bring the idea to life, a group of South African creators travelled to Europe, redeeming their Heineken’s across multiple cities and documenting the experience in real time.

Actor Kwenzo Ngcobo captured the simplicity of the idea, ‘It’s such a simple thing but it changes everything. You’re not thinking about the price or doing the conversion, you’re just in the moment, enjoying the city and the people around you.’

Content creator Katlego added, ‘It turns something small into something memorable. Your first beer in a new city already feels like home.’

And for Candice Coulsen (Kandis Kardash), it was about what the idea represents, ‘Travel is about new experiences, but this makes you feel connected straight away.’

Bar De Change was launched out of South Africa, a country where the impact of exchange rates is felt every time people travel. But, if the Rand ever strengthens, we’ll make sure the next round is on us.

HEINEKEN
www.theHEINEKENcompany.com 

Retailers Are Experiencing Tech Exhaustion

Modern Marketing

April 9, 2026

Retailers Are Experiencing Tech Exhaustion

Although smartphones are now widely accessible, an estimated 95% of retail in emerging markets remains offline, not because small businesses are avoiding technology, but because they are overwhelmed by it. South African SME retailers are increasingly juggling multiple disconnected digital tools, from POS systems to payment platforms and marketing apps, each adding cost, complexity, and time pressure to already demanding operations.

Picture the owner of an independent hardware store in Brackenfell, or a family-run butchery in George. On their phone: a POS app from one provider, an inventory tracker from another, a loyalty platform they signed up for at a trade show, a payment gateway the bank insisted on, and a WhatsApp marketing tool a supplier recommended. Forty-seven apps. Perhaps five in regular use. The rest: a graveyard of good intentions.

This is the daily reality for thousands of South African SME retailers and it is costing them more than they realise.

The Skills Gap Is Real But It’s Not The Whole Story

Recent research from PKF South Africa indicates that more than 60% of South African businesses cite skills shortages as a barrier to digital transformation [1]— while the FinScope MSME South Africa 2024 Survey highlights that the cost and complexity of adopting new platforms remains a critical obstacle, particularly for businesses operating in the informal economy [2].

But framing this purely as a skills problem misses the point. These are not businesses that have rejected the digital economy. They are businesses that have been sold the wrong version of it, one built around vendor convenience rather than operator reality. Every new tool promises transformation. Most deliver complexity.

Each additional app means another login, another dashboard, another training curve, another monthly fee. For an owner running a high-pressure retail operation with no IT support and real cash flow constraints, the rational response is to stop adopting. And that is exactly what is happening.

Unpacking Digital Fatigue: Fragmentation Is the Problem

The failure mode is always the same. An SME owner adopts a POS system, only to find it does not speak to their inventory tracker. Loyalty data sits in a separate platform. Promotions generate stats no one reads. Payments require yet another dashboard. Without the time or resources to stitch these systems together, manual workarounds become the default and the tools get quietly abandoned.

World Bank research tracking SME digital adoption found that while initial uptake is often high, usage rates collapse within months, with fewer than 35% of businesses still actively using a platform 18 months after adoption[3]. [4]The UK Government’s SME Digital Adoption Taskforce has identified fragmented technology stacks as the primary culprit, finding that businesses juggling multiple disconnected tools consistently struggle to integrate them, justify the cost, or sustain meaningful use. The consequences are tangible: spoiled stock from poor tracking, missed sales from clunky checkout experiences, and stunted growth from insights that never get acted on.

Digital inclusion does not fail because retailers are resistant. It fails because the tools add complexity rather than remove it. The real barrier is not the absence of technology, it is the gap between trust and transaction. Between what a platform promises, and what it actually delivers on a Tuesday morning when the queue is out the door.

From App Proliferation To App Consolidation: What The Evidence Shows

The consolidation thesis is already being proven in the market. The platforms gaining real traction among SME retailers are not the ones with the most features, they are the ones that collapse the stack.

As I have argued for some time now, ‘For the last fifteen years, the internet has been built around single-purpose apps. One app for transport. One app for shopping. One app for payments. But this model is breaking, not because the apps are bad, but because the user experience is fragmented. Consumers don’t want more apps. They want less friction’, said André De Wet, founder of Flood.

For an SME retailer, this means auto-syncing supplier deliveries to inventory, WhatsApp stock alerts, seamless loyalty at checkout, and AI-driven promotions, all in one interface, inside a platform they already open every day. Features get discovered, not deployed. Engagement builds without fatigue.

Why Big Institutions Hold The Winning Hand

The businesses best positioned to solve the digital fatigue problem are not niche fintechs. They are banks and telcos, institutions with daily user engagement, embedded trust, and distribution that no startup can replicate.

When commerce is embedded inside a banking app or an airtime platform, the adoption question disappears. The merchant is already there. The consumer is already there. The infrastructure of payments, identity, compliance is already in place. What is needed is a commerce layer that slots in without disruption.

This is precisely what consolidation platforms enable: white-label, API-driven commerce infrastructure that turns a banking app into a local marketplace, compliant with POPIA and SARS requirements, capable of geo-targeted discovery, in-store pickup, and real-time analytics, without asking the merchant to learn anything new.

The average smartphone user has 80 apps installed but actively uses fewer than 10. The winning platforms for the next decade will not be the ones that add to that number. They will be the ones already embedded in the 10.

Why 2026 Is the Turning Point

‘My argument is simple: 2026 is the year the Superapp goes global.’

Three trends are converging to make this moment decisive. Mobile payments infrastructure has matured, 2.8 billion digital wallets are now in circulation globally. AI has dramatically reduced the cost and complexity of building integrated platforms. And consumer patience with fragmentation has run out. After a decade of downloading more and more apps, people and businesses are asking why it isn’t all just one place.

A Superapp brings together commerce, payments, discovery, logistics, loyalty, and communication inside a single digital ecosystem. Instead of ten apps, one platform that connects the real economy around you. It succeeds not just on product merit, but on economics: more consumers attract more businesses, which attract more consumers, creating a self-reinforcing digital economy. WeChat’s 1.3 billion users did not happen by accident. Neither will the next generation of emerging market platforms.

André said, ‘The next great digital platforms won’t just come from Silicon Valley. They will emerge where real economies need them most.’

The Path Forward For SA’s SME Retailers

South Africa’s independent retailers, the hardware stores, the butcheries, the corner spaza operators who have graduated into formal retail are not waiting for a digital revolution. They are waiting for tools that actually fit their lives.

As consolidation platforms scale their partnerships with banks and telcos, those retailers stand to gain the most: formalised operations, fewer errors, better data, and ultimately stronger margins. Digital fatigue does not end with another app. It ends when the right platform makes all the others unnecessary.

For South Africa’s SME retailers, that moment is arriving.

FLOOD

www.flood.finance

Choosing The Cheapest Agency Can Be A Very Expensive Mistake

Modern Marketing

April 9, 2026

Tiffany Turkington-Palmer, Flow Communications.

You’re choosing a communications partner, after all. You’re investing in the health of your brand, the future of your business, and the relationships you hold with customers, stakeholders and the public. What you need is a bona fide partner: an agency that invests in real depth, sharp thinking and the confidence to act strategically in the best interests of your business.

Quality agencies are built to be reliable, accountable, nimble and outcomes-focused. They are geared to solve problems, not create new ones. A low fee rarely reflects the full picture of what you’re buying and, more importantly, what you may need to fix later.

Agency pricing is shaped by the calibre of talent employed, the intellectual property developed over time, the strength of internal processes, and the infrastructure required to deliver work that stands up to scrutiny and competitor pressure. Before signing on the dotted line, these are the things (along with the agency’s track record) that should be interrogated.

When assessing proposals, value should be examined with the same rigour as cost.

How long has the agency been in business, and what does that longevity say about resilience and relevance? Is there evidence of strategic thinking, not just tactical execution? Are key skills genuinely housed in-house, or quietly outsourced once the contract is signed? Has the work been recognised by clients or industry peers? And perhaps the simplest question of all: would their clients hire them again?

The real cost to a business isn’t the agency fee. It’s money spent on work that doesn’t deliver, strategies that miss the mark and partnerships that unravel. Many organisations know the pain of appointing a bargain-basement agency, only to hire a second, more experienced one to untangle the mess and rebuild trust, while politely pretending the first phase never happened.

Appointing a marketing, communications, advertising or digital agency is an investment decision. And as with most investments, the cheapest option often carries the highest hidden costs. Businesses that understand this don’t just buy services; they buy results that elevate brands and drive profitability.

FLOW COMMUNICATIONS
www.flowsa.com

Creators Are The Most Efficient Trust-Builders Brands Can Invest In

Modern Marketing

April 9, 2026

Creators Are The Most Efficient Trust-Builders Brands Can Invest In — Michael Cost, Humanz.

Michael Cost, Head of Strategy and Client Development, Humanz, says in 2026, the brands that win are not the ones shouting louder, although paid media has made this possible. They are the ones building relevance through real human connection, at scale. That is exactly why creators and influencers have become the new golden thread of marketing.

The Biggest Lie In Social Media Marketing

There is a misconception that still shapes how many organisations allocate budgets and structure teams: that social media was created for brands.

I know this will break your heart, but it was not. Social media was built for people. Brands moved in after the fact, trying to earn space in places they were initially not designed for. But this does not stop the humanification of brands on social and the mimicking of influencers.

‘Social Media wasn’t made for business, it was made for people.’ – Neal Schaffer.

System update: Influence 2.6

We have entered what I call Influence 2.6, the latest Influencer Software update. A new era where creator marketing is no longer a channel or a campaign add-on. It is becoming the infrastructure of modern brand building.

What Defines Influence 2.6:

– Advocacy Has Become Standardised: Influencer marketing has matured. Expectations are clearer. Deliverables are more structured. Measurement is increasingly tied to business outcomes, not vanity metrics. Well, that’s if you have the right technology partners. #ShamelessPlug

– Creators Are Shaping All Social Content: Creators do not just post, they shape the creative language of platforms. Creators set the tone, create the trends, and decide what is platform worthy.

– Influencer Marketing Is No Longer A Line item: Budgets are growing but, more importantly, they are shifting. Brands are increasingly integrating creators across the full marketing mix, not isolating them inside social or PR.

From The Broken Funnel To The Connection Circle

The traditional funnel assumes audiences move forward in one direction. But modern customer journeys do not move linearly anymore. Attention is fragmented and trust is the new currency.

People discover, doomscroll, forget, rediscover, ask friends, watch reviews, scan comments, wait for payday, see a creator again, click a link, abandon a cart, come back later, buy in-store and, only then, maybe, post about it. Almost like multiplying the ‘rule of 7’, the consumer journey now needs multiple touchpoints to lead to conversion. Although we suggest a full-funnel approach with advocacy, the funnel has changed dramatically.

This is why the future model is better represented as a connection circle. A continuous loop where content feeds community, community feeds trust, and trust drives action. Brands need to attract audiences, engage with them, and reward them.

In this circle, the goal is not just conversion, obviously. The goal is connection that compounds, tapping into:

– Content that sparks relevance.
– Community that builds belonging.
– Creators who translate brand value into human truth  and peer-to-peer sharing that becomes a powerful distribution engine.

But first, we need to understand community.

One of the biggest strategic mistakes brands make is believing they can build a community the way they build a campaign. Another? Believing that a database is the same thing as a community.

‘You don’t build communities, you join them.’ – Jeremiah Owyang.

Great brands do not force communities into existence. They create the conditions for communities to form, merge, and evolve on their own terms, with the brand acting as a catalyst rather than a controller.

Creators are essential to this because creators do not enter communities like brands do, they generally created them. They already speak the language. They already have trust. As our global marketing officer, Pierre Cassuto, said, ‘Influencers are hosting parties, and brands need to try and get invited to these parties.’ The best outcome is if we manage to become the DJ, but remember that DJs don’t stay at a party for long.

The Golden Thread Is Not A Campaign

We are moving from a marketing world dominated by broadcast, to one dominated by peer-to-peer influence. Creators sit at the centre of that shift because they connect paid and organic, social and traditional channels, as well as in-feed engagement and real-world conversation. This is why influencer marketing is no longer something you add on, it is something you design around.

The golden thread is the constant presence of creators connecting awareness, engagement, and conversion. Influencers are not just at the top of the funnel. They are not just content creators. They are not just a PR tactic. They are, increasingly, the connective tissue between what people notice, what people trust, what people talk about, what people buy, and what people recommend.

In a world where trust is the new currency, creators are often the most efficient trust-builders brands can possibly invest in. This is why it is imperative to have a partner who understands this and is able to measure the entire conversion circle.

HUMANZ
www.humanz.com

The Marketing Industry Is Facing A Shortage Of People Who Can Manage AI

Modern Marketing

April 9, 2026

The Marketing Industry Is Facing A Shortage Of People Who Can Manage AI — Tanya Lilley, Brandtech+.

While some commentators suggest that artificial intelligence will reduce the need for marketing talent and shrink agency teams, early signals from the industry point in the opposite direction. The scale, speed and complexity of modern marketing have increased so rapidly that execution, not ideation, has become the primary constraint.

‘AI has fundamentally changed the economics of content creation,’ said Tanya Lilley, Talent Acquisition Lead at Brandtech+. ‘But what it hasn’t done is simplify the system around it. If anything, it has made marketing significantly more complex to manage.’

‘As brands produce more content across more channels, in more markets and formats than ever before, the operational burden has intensified,’ she explained. ‘Campaigns now require continuous localisation, faster approvals, tighter governance and seamless deployment across global teams, all under increasing pressure to deliver in real time.’

The result she adds is a structural shift in where demand for talent is growing.

‘The industry spent decades optimising for creative output,’ Lilley said ‘AI has effectively removed that constraint and what’s emerged in its place is a far more complex challenge; how to coordinate, manage and scale that output effectively.’

‘Roles such as project managers, delivery leads, account directors and marketing technologists are becoming critical to the success of modern campaigns,’ she explained. ‘These positions, traditionally viewed as support functions, are now central to performance as organisations grapple with increased volume and complexity.’

This shift Lilley adds is also reshaping agency models. ‘Rather than large, production-heavy teams, many organisations are moving toward more specialised, senior-led structures supported by AI-powered production capabilities,’ she added. ‘The focus is no longer on scaling headcount linearly, but on scaling output intelligently.’

‘AI allows us to produce more, faster, but without the right operational infrastructure, that quickly becomes chaos,’ she added. ‘The real competitive advantage now lies in how well organisations can orchestrate that complexity.’

For markets like South Africa, she notes that the implications are significant. ‘The rise of distributed, AI-enabled operating models is opening access to global work, particularly for professionals with strong delivery, coordination and technical capabilities.’

‘This is not a contraction of opportunity, it’s a redistribution of it,’ she said. ‘South African talent is well-positioned to plug into global delivery ecosystems, especially in roles that manage complexity across markets and time zones.’

Lilley explains that as AI continues to accelerate marketing output, the industry is entering a new phase, one where execution infrastructure, not creative generation, defines success.

‘The conversation shouldn’t be about whether AI will replace marketing jobs,’ she said. ‘It should be about whether organisations are equipped to handle what AI is about to unleash.’

‘In this new landscape, the winners will not be those who produce the most content, but those who can manage it best,’ Lilley concludes.

BRANDTECH+
https://www.brandtech.plus

Using Marketing And Technology For Community Impact

Modern Marketing

April 8, 2026

Using Marketing And Technology For Community Impact — Celestine Lourens, Deep South Report.

Deep South Report is a technology-enabled community information system that provides verified, real-time updates to more than 20,000 residents and travellers across the Southern Peninsula in Cape Town. Deep South Report functions as a live, walking newspaper, delivering immediate, verified updates on the incidents that matter most to daily life in the Deep South. Emergency services, city authorities, and disaster risk management teams have all formally relied on Deep South Report to communicate with the public.

Their immediate broadcasts help prevent panic, reduce risk, and guide people away from danger. They’ve helped residents avoid flooded roads, fires, medical scenes, and crime hotspots. They’ve also assisted in missing persons cases and vehicle recoveries.

They also contribute to the local economy. Their weekly eBook promotes local businesses, markets, fairs, school events, fundraisers, library activities, workshops, theatre productions, and pensioner specials. This gives small businesses visibility they often cannot afford elsewhere. Everything they offer is free, except for sponsored business pages, and that income goes directly into operational costs. They receive no funding from any organisation, so sustainability is one of their biggest challenges, but they continue because the community needs this service.

Founder and administrator of Deep South Report, Celestine Lourens, has been nominated for the Woman of Stature Awards in the Technology category for 2026. Lourens’ background spans content, design, photography, branding and media marketing.

‘Not everything we do is crisis-related. I balance our broadcasts with history, heritage, and environmental education. Our ‘On this day in shipwreck history’ posts are loved by elders and museums. I share old postcards, historical notes, and local stories that connect people to the past. We also highlight interesting animal sightings and environmental events. These posts bring joy and curiosity into the community. We’ve done marine talks with underprivileged school groups through the Cape Peninsula Civil Conservation NPO,’ said Lourens.

‘Inspiration is not something I set out to achieve, it’s something that has grown naturally from the work. My mentorship is practical and rooted in service. I teach residents how to report responsibly, how to verify information, and how to avoid spreading panic or misinformation. This is digital mentorship, guiding people to use technology ethically. I’ve worked with school groups, teaching them about marine life, environmental awareness, and community responsibility.’

‘Deep South Report started because I was frustrated by how hard it was to find accurate, timely information during emergencies. I realised that if I could solve that problem for myself, I could solve it for thousands of others,’ added Lourens.

‘Deep South Report has grown into something far bigger than I ever imagined. It’s a living, breathing system that supports safety, connection, and community spirit.’

C1W Initiative

Change 1 Woman (C1W) aims to empower women in the branding, print and signage industries. If you have any trend/business articles related to the branding and marketing industries, please email content to: meggan@practicalmedia.co.za. Follow C1W on Facebook and LinkedIn for more updates.

DEEP SOUTH REPORT
Facebook page

12 3...418 Page 1 of 418